


Priest of the Dragon God

by Liza_Taylor



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, F/M, God Byleth, Hurt/Comfort, Immortality, Minor Original Character(s), Slow Burn, Slow Romance, alternative universe, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24263146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liza_Taylor/pseuds/Liza_Taylor
Summary: Claude was given an ultimatum. Spend a year as a priest of the temple of the local dragon god or be exiled forever from his home village. Claude thought it would be easy to be a priest of a god he didn't believe in. All he had to do was give offerings to the altar and listen to people's prayers. That is until he meets the god on his first day on the job and realizes he is in way over his head.She had lived for a long time and seen many humans come and go, their wishes and prayers ringing in her ears. Her newest priest is familiar though she is not sure why, his soul reminding her of someone she knew long ago...Alternative Universe, God Byleth and her priest Claude.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 17
Kudos: 109





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Finally trying to get back to writing a Claudeleth fic! I will 100% admit this was inspired by "Bride of the Water God", "Ancient Magus Bride"/a bunch of other inhuman/human manga. 
> 
> This is also completely in a different fantasy world setting than the game, with similar elements(ex: wyverns).

Claude rested his hands on his knees and struggled to catch his breath. He looked up and stared at many, many stone steps still to traverse. He wasn’t even halfway up and he was already exhausted. Why did the dragon god have to live all the way up here? Wouldn’t it make more sense for the dragon god to live closer to the people they were supposed to protect? That made the most logical sense right?

Sighing, he sat on the stone step. He had to get there by nightfall at the latest and the sun had just passed the zenith less than an hour ago. He had the time to rest. Sighing, he shrugged off his backpack and dug around for his canteen. He pulled aside the few changes of clothes, his hunting knife, and the variety of other things he was forced to pack to start his new life as a priest of the local dragon god.

Ah, there it was. He found it under the journal that listed all the duties of the priest of the dragon god. He pulled out the canteen, popped off the lid and took a long sip of cold water. Well, might as well have lunch while he was here. He dug into the bag until he found the bread and jerky. It wasn’t much but it would keep him going until he got to the top. Apparently food would be provided for him once he arrived but he was glad he had the foresight to pack a few things to eat on the way. This was way too deep in the mountains for his liking.

He scratched the back of his head as he took out the journal and began skimming through the pages in an attempt to review over his duties.

It wasn’t like he wanted to be a priest of the local dragon god. It just kind of happened. Who knew one of his scheming plans would be taken a little too seriously, leading to the noblewoman demanding Claude’s exile. Of course his father couldn’t just exile Claude, the only son and heir to the local throne. That would cause some turmoil with the locals, many who were expecting Claude to take over the throne in the coming years. However the noblewoman could not be deterred and the only compromise that she would accept was Claude serving the local dragon god as a priest for a year as the previous one had passed away a month ago and no one had stepped up as a replacement yet.

His father hesitated but Claude agreed. Living as a hermit for a year sounded way more appealing than being exiled forever. Besides, it wasn’t like the dragon god actually existed. It was just a position to take care of the old temple, leave offerings for rain and harvest or whatever. A simple job, albeit slightly boring. Nothing worth fussing over. Of course his mother ended up shoving a pile of protective amulets in his bag and Claude had to take them out to have room for the essentials he had to bring on this trip.

“One year and then I’ll be back home.” He shut the journal and stowed it in the backpack before getting up. After a quick stretch, he continued the long climb up the stairs.

It took another hour and his back was drenched in sweat, his legs screaming in pain as he finally made it to the top. He thought he was fit but apparently being able to ride wyvern and fire a bow was nothing compared to the might of what had to be over a thousand stone steps.

He was not looking forward to having to make the trip down to the bottom once a week for supplies and to lead prayers for anyone that came to visit hoping for a blessing from the dragon god.

After catching his breath, he looked around and saw a thick forest before him, a stone path snaking through it. More walking!? “No wonder Dad was hesitant to me doing this job, just the trip getting there is a pain in a half.”

The path through the forest was quaint. Claude couldn’t put his finger on why though. It was like there was something more to this forest that set it apart from any he had walked through in the past. What was it though? The plants looked the same, the singing birds were the same and the deer and small rodents he caught sight of from a distance looked the same. Visually it looked like any other forest but the vibe felt different. There was something in the crisp mountain air that tingled against the back of his neck.

The forest opened up to a large clearing. A stone cottage stood in the center, a vegetable garden to the left and a small animal barn to the right. He saw a few chickens and a cow milling around outside and he remembered his father mentioning that someone had to come up every day to take care of the animals and garden until a new priest was appointed.

“Well at least I won’t starve…” As he got closer, he noticed the plants in the vegetable garden looked fresher than anything he had seen in the village. The leaves of the plants were vibrant in color, the vegetables looking fresh and delicious on the vines and stems. Good thing his father insisted he learned how to tend the fields, otherwise he would be in trouble.

The front door of the cottage was made from wood and opened as Claude turned the doorknob. The inside was quaint, it had a few rooms, including, thankfully, indoor plumbing. He had no idea how pipes worked all the way out here but having fresh water both cold and hot was a blessing he didn’t know he needed until now.

He knew he would spend some time later going through the rooms and figuring out what was what, but for now he really wanted to see the actual temple, where most of his duties lay as the dragon god priest. He dropped his backpack on the wooden kitchen table and took the journal with him.

Stepping outside and after taking a moment to orient himself, he followed the directions in the journal. Behind the cottage was another stone path leading deeper into the forest. The path eventually led to the base of a mountain. The entrance of the temple was surprisingly barren, just a large opening in the rock wall. He was expecting there would be intricate carvings and pillars to signal this was the entrance to the temple of the great and powerful dragon god.

He was right wasn’t he? The dragon god wasn’t worth much were they?

This was going to be an incredibly easy year. He stepped into the cave, surprising to see it opened up into a huge chamber. Light came in from an opening in the ceiling, making it easy to see everything inside.

The breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of the statue on the other end of the room. A large stone throne sat there in regal glory, the chair carved with swirling and coiling designs and inlaid in jewels. Sitting on the throne was a dragon. A stone carved dragon, the body lying comfortably on the throne, the tail draping on the floor. As he got closer, he marveled at the attention to detail, each individual scale carefully chiseled in, the claws in almost lifelike detail, the spiral horns curling out of the top of its head. The eyes were closed, like the dragon was in a deep sleep and for a moment Claude thought he saw the statue take a slow deep breath.

He shook his head, dismissing that thought immediately. Statues did not breathe. It was well carved though and showed no signs of aging despite being here for supposedly over a thousand years. A small altar was at the base of the throne and oddly simple compared to the splendor of the stone dragon. A simple stone slab, a stone cup, empty, the only thing on it. From what he read in the journal, every day he needed to bring an offering to the dragon god. What a waste, having to make food just to have it rot but hey, that’s what had to be done. He didn’t want to get in trouble because he didn’t do it right.

Besides…

He looked up at the sleeping dragon statue. If on the off chance, it could come to life, well he didn’t want to be on its bad side, that was for sure. 

Of course his duties officially started tomorrow. He saluted to the statue. “Pleasure working with you for the next year. Go easy on me and don’t eat me or whatever alright?”

The wind tickled his hair but thankfully there was no response from the dragon statue. “Day zero and I’m already going insane.” He chuckled before leaving the cave. He had a cottage to get settled into.

***

He was a new one.

She watched him from the top of the throne, one leg crossed over the other. He was younger than the last priest, barely a foot out of childhood. Or, what she understood about human childhood. For her they disappeared in the blink of an eye, the time barely passing for her, while it was a lifetime for them. This would be gone as fast as he had come although something about his essence made her pause.

She had felt his presence when he entered her domain and curiously, she returned to her shrine to wait for him to visit. Nothing about him was peculiar, he was human, through and through. And yet something about him tickled the back of her mind, reminded her of something familiar. Possibly something from long ago, however she could not be sure.

Well, it didn’t matter either way, he was a child in the presence of a god. The real test would be tomorrow.

***

Claude cursed and dropped the knife, putting his finger to his mouth to staunch the flow of blood. The tomato on the cutting board looking innocently up at him, not showing any hint of slipping out of his grasp so the knife dug into his thumb instead.

Cooking was such a pain.

Sure he could do it and he did have fun with it, but according to the journal, the food that was offered to the dragon god needed to look “beautiful”. It needed to have extra sprigs of green on top, the overall dish needing to look like it came from a nobleman’s household. What in the world was the point of making food look good that was going to sit on an altar for twenty-four hours? However, he didn’t want to entice any wrath from a dragon god on his first real day on the job. He scoffed at the thought. What was the dragon god going to do? Come to life and step on him? Oh wait, maybe breathe fire? Dragons breathed fire right? He tried to remember the ones in the stories his mother had told him growing up.

“That had to be right…right?” He sighed. Great, he was only here a day and already he was starting to talk to himself. His future was not looking hopeful at this point. Hopefully by the end of all this he wasn’t going to be talking to a doll or something.

“You’re going to have human interaction at least once a week, calm down Claude.” He lightly hit his cheeks a few times and went to get a wrapping for his thumb. Once that was taken care of, he quickly finished up the meal for the altar. Scrambled eggs coated in spices(the spice cabinet was surprisingly well stocked) and a side salad made from items found in the garden. This wouldn’t be enough to fill him for the day but it had to be enough for the altar right? Especially since there was no instructions in the journal of what kind of food he was supposed to prepare.

He wrapped the bowls with cloth to protect them from any bugs and the elements before heading out to the cave. It was another nice day, which surprised him. Wasn’t mountain weather supposed to be more extreme and unforgiving? Although maybe it was being nice to give him a few days to get used to it.

“Okay, you really need to pull it together,” he murmured to himself. The mountain wasn’t _alive_ , it didn’t have the thoughts and feeling of a person.

The inside of the cave looked the same as yesterday and Claude set the bowls of food down on the altar. He pulled the canteen of water off his belt and filled the stone cup to the brim and set it down. “And there we go. Day one complete.” He rested his hands on his hips and looked up at the dragon statue. “I hope you enjoy? I guess. Not like you can hear me or whatever.” 

Well, with that task out of the way, he had to get back to the cottage and get to work on cleaning. There was a surprising amount of dust gathering in the corners. He was halfway across the cave when he felt the air seemingly shift, the pressure wasn’t the same as before and for a moment his ears felt clogged. He also had the sense there was something in the room with him. Watching his back.

He froze in place, his hand going for the dagger that was not on his belt. He mentally cursed himself. Usually he had it there but since he was in the middle of nowhere he had relaxed on carrying it with him. He tightened his hands into fists and turned slowly. Better to face a sword or arrow head on, rather than catching him in the back, that was what his father said.

Much to his surprise, there was no archer pointing an arrow at him or a man threatening to strike him down. Instead there was a woman.

She sat before the small altar, long mint green hair flowing down her back and pooling on the ground behind her. Her body was slender but off, he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly bothered him but she seemed unnatural, uncanny even. She was too perfect, he realized a moment later. Her skin was flawless, her limbs proportioned in a way that should have been right but it just exemplified her foreignness. And those eyes! Piercing mint green like her hair but they seemed to look through him, seemingly looking for or wanting something, but he did not know what. She was clad in a dress made from a material that he had never seen before, it shimmering and shining in the light as if a thousand mirrors had been stitched together.

“Who…who are you?” he whispered. He thought back to the stories of the mountain but he could recall nothing about human-like creatures that lived here. “Ah, wait, that’s…” he stammered as she reached for the salad on the altar.

Her long fingers paused in mid-air and she stared at him with that piercing gaze.

“It’s for the dragon god.” He cleared his throat. “It’s an offering to them, so uh…you shouldn’t…eat it.” Should he really be antagonizing an obviously non-human being? It was just food and he didn’t believe in the dragon god anyway. Did it matter if this…woman wanted to eat it?

She looked down at the food and then up at him, her moment incredibly slow and deliberate. “It’s been a while since someone was able to see me.”

It took Claude a moment to realize the woman was talking. Her voice had a slight musical quality to it and he thought he could hear the rustling of leaves in the trees from her words. “What?”

She picked up one of the cut tomatoes in the salad and put it in her mouth, chewing it slowly before swallowing. “It seems like the tomatoes are growing well this year. Good, the crop last year wasn’t doing so well.”

Claude stared at her dumbly, not sure how to take the sudden shift in topic. “Uh yeah, I guess….everything seems to be growing well.”

“Good. And the animals?”

“They’re fine…” He shook his head. “Sorry but who are you?” Wait, that came out a little too harsh. He cleared his throat. “I mean, if you would be willing to tell me your name, that would be great? So I know who I am speaking to.”

She picked up the bowl of scrambled eggs and brought it up to her face. A tongue slipped out, longer than a human’s and she began scooping up some of the eggs and putting it in her mouth. Her expression shifted to one of slight surprise as she chewed and swallowed. “Interesting…you are the first to use those spices in this way.”

“It’s my mother’s recipe,” Claude replied without thinking. What in the world was he doing?

She put down the bowl and regarded him with a slight tilt of the head. “You are still here and I can sense you are still confused despite it being clear. I am eating a meal at my altar.”

“At your…” Claude’s eyes widen as it clicked. “You’re…” He looked up at the statue and then to her. “The dragon god?” he whispered.

She ignored him, seemingly more focused on finishing her meal. 

The dragon god. She was the dragon god!? The dragon god was real!? The revelation flooded through him and he thought back to every conversation he had with himself in this time here. Did he say anything weird? Offensive? Oh gods, the dragon god was real!

“Calm yourself. I can sense your distress from here and it is ruining my meal.”

Claude gulped. Her tone did not change but the vibe in the room did, the pressure in the space increasing a bit. “Uh, is there anything else you would like?” he asked, grateful that his parents trained him in the art of speaking to snooty nobles. That was probably the only reason he could come up with a relatively normal question without becoming a mess.

“I am alright for now. You may go and finish cleaning the cottage. It has been a while since the last occupant.”

The small twinge of a smile sent shivers up Claude’s spine. It was incredibly unnatural, like she was mocking a typical human smile. Also, how long had she been watching him to know he wanted to clean it? Or was she able to read minds?

Either way, staying here was not a good idea. He bowed low to her before backing out of the cave, not wanting to turn his back to her.

***

He was a funny human.

She knew he could sense right away, that she was not a human like him. She saw it in how his body tensed, ready to flee at a moment’s notice. A typical human reaction, a funny reaction. Even as he left, he refused to turn his back to her. That wouldn’t help him at all if she was being serious. There was no way a human would have the reflexes enough to prevent her from killing him.

She took another bite of the scrambled eggs, her long tongue scraping the bowl. It had been so long but the taste was familiar and she wanted to leave nothing behind that reminded her of the days long ago.


	2. Chapter 2

The dragon god was real.

The dragon god was real.

Holy crap, the dragon god was real.

Claude shut the door of the little cottage tight behind him before pacing around the space. Why hadn’t he know about this!? Why wasn’t this mentioned in the journal!? Wait. He scrambled to the bedroom and grabbed the journal, quickly flipping through the pages, searching for any indication that the dragon god existed.

The journal was never explicit in saying it but so many of the rituals listed involved “speaking” to the dragon god and leaving out food and other offerings that reading in between the lines, Claude suspected it meant that the writer probably could see the dragon god as well.

“Couldn’t you have explicitly wrote that?” he muttered in annoyance before putting the journal down. Not like he would have believed it anyway.

He ran his fingers through his hair as he thought back to the woman that sat at the altar and ate the food he prepared. How powerful was she? Was she powerful enough that she could read the inside of his heart and his inner most desires? Could she see into the future? The past? He thought about everything he knew about the dragon god.

A local deity that the villages in the area prayed to. There wasn’t anything in particular the dragon god was said to rule over. They were called upon for harvests, childbirth, medicine, hunting, war, luck, anything that could be prayed for, the dragon god was used. Many also made pilgrimages to the temple but they had to wait at the bottom of the mountain, one of Claude’s tasks as a priest was to go down the mountain every week to listen to the prayers, accept the offerings and take it to the dragon god and relay the prayers of the people.

Wait, was the dragon god not that powerful then if they could not hear the prayers from the bottom of the mountain?

Argh, he didn’t know what this all meant!

However the thought that the dragon god might be watching him right now was alarming. He looked at the window and he didn’t know whether to be relieved or nervous that he didn’t seen anyone peering at him. Was the dragon god able to be invisible? They had to be able to, right? He didn’t do anything special to become the dragon priest and things would devolve into chaos if the dragon god could be seen by everyone. Well, there would be a lot of stories about seeing the god, that was for sure.

Ugh, he fed the god his half-baked cooking. She didn’t seem to mind all too much, but he would have put in way more effort into it if he knew someone was going to eat it, especially a divine being. Should he make her something else as an apology? No, the journal stated the god was only supposed to be given one meal a day and unless he had other duties to do, he was not to enter the temple.

Guess all he could do was make a better meal tomorrow and beg forgiveness? Yes, that was a good plan. Although that probably wouldn’t help him sleep tonight. For now, he might as well take care of those dust bunnies.

***

The dragon god watched from the tree line as he opened the windows of the cottage and began clearing out the dust and grime. He was a hard worker, and willing to get his hands dirty as he cleaned the streaked windows and tossed out layers of dust. He even cared for the animals with a tender affection, even if the chickens pecked at his boots. There was an unnatural level of busyness to him though, like he was struggling to get away from his thoughts, his emotional turmoil so strong she could hear it from here.

Humans were interesting creatures like that. They worried about the impact of the littlest things, although their lives were fleeting and short so perhaps it made sense after all.

She floated up into the closest tree so she would have a comfortable position to watch him.

***

Today was definitely going to be better than yesterday. Claude went all out with the meal offering to the dragon god. He caught a rabbit in one of the many traps near the cottage and made a slow cooked stew and a small side salad to go with it. He debated on making some freshly squeeze juice as well but thought against it as he didn’t know what would be considered too much and he didn’t want to offend the dragon god by being too over the top.

Wait, would this stew be considered over the top? Perhaps but he needed to make up for his paltry attempt yesterday. “And here I thought it would be a lot of mumbo jumbo and being bored and talking to nature or whatever,” he grumbled. He clamped his mouth shut, and cautiously looked around. He didn’t know if the dragon god was listening I,n but just in case, bad mouthing her was probably not a good idea.

After setting his offering on a tray, he headed for the cave.

The empty bowls from yesterday were waiting for him at the altar and he replaced them with the stew and salad. A quick peek around but he didn’t see the physical form of the dragon god anywhere. Was she not here? Or was she here but in an ethereal form, watching him? Damn it, why didn’t he bother reading up on the dragon god before coming here!? The only information he had was the various famous stories and the journal and the journal was more of a how-to and did nothing to address on how to _actually_ have a conversation with a god.

“I hope you like today’s meal!” he called out, his voice echoing through the cave.

No response. He stared up at the huge dragon statue. Did she rest inside of it when she wasn’t out and about? Or was the statue just a representation of what she was and her human shape was her true form? These were not the questions he thought he would have to deal with coming here.

Well either way, she was not showing herself to him so perhaps she wasn’t here. Hopefully she wasn’t the type to mind her food getting cold. Wait, did a god even taste the food the same way a human would? She had commented on the spices he used yesterday but was it the same way a human would? Would his super spiced stew be too much?

He really needed to stop this line of thought before he made himself go insane. For good measure, he bowed to the statue before leaving the temple.

Now, what to do today? He had a trip down to the bottom of the mountain tomorrow to listen to the prayers. It was just his luck he would come up here in the middle of the week. He wondered if he should just skip tomorrow. He had only been appointed about a week ago and most people probably didn’t know it was alright to visit the temple and leave offerings and prayers again. It would be such a waste to make the trek down and then have no one show up.

He made it back to the cottage and spent the rest of the morning tending to the animals and the garden. Once that was taken care of, he looked to the forest. It was probably important for him to see what was in the area. The journal mentioned there were plenty of edible wild berries and roots and medicinal herbs growing nearby. There was also mention of a small waterfall near a river, which he would need to bath under during the special holidays before he had to perform specific prayers at the temple. Originally he was planning on half-assing it but obviously he couldn’t do that now.

Well, might as well figure out where that waterfall was along with familiarizing himself with everything in the area. He wasn’t sure what kind of predators lived out here but better safe than sorry. He grabbed the bow on a rack near the front door along with the quiver of arrows. As he strung the bow, he wondered if it was alright to ask for another. This one was passable but it was obviously for someone that wasn’t trained in using the weapon. He gave it a test pull and grimaced as he felt the tension. Screw decorum, he was definitely going to ask for a another bow and if he wasn’t allowed to get one, he could probably whittle one together from a tree branch.

The arrows were a little more passable than the bow but Claude made a note to make more arrows at a later date. Especially with sharper rocks.

At least his knife didn’t disappoint and he slipped it on his belt before leaving the cottage. “You’re in charge until I get back,” he told the cow.

The cow responded with a loud moo before going back to chewing on her cud.

Claude headed into the forest, the air crisp and clear. He kept to one of the animal trails, the undergrowth thicker here than anything he had seen before. This was a place where nature was stronger than humanity’s attempt to fight it.

In the distance he could hear running water and he assumed that was the river. Well, it made sense that it was close by. Any farther and it would be inconvenient, especially for the old man that was the priest before Claude. Although, now he wondered if that priest could see the dragon god.

The trees before him opened up to a large clearing and he couldn’t help but stop and stare. The waterfall emptied into a small pool that opened up to a river. Lush green plants and colorful flowers clung to the bank. Sitting on the edge of the pool, with her feet resting in the water was the dragon god. Lying next to her was the largest stag Claude had ever seen, even bigger than some of the smaller horses in the village. The deer’s coat was tawny mixed with gold, the dark brown eyes betraying a level of intelligence that Claude was not expecting from an animal like this. The antlers were majestic, as they were almost double the width of the deer himself, the tines are curved to face the sky. The dragon god was scratching the stag under the chin but she paused as the animal looked in Claude’s direction, the ears flickering. Surprisingly it did not flee but maybe compared to a dragon god, a puny human was no threat at all.

The dragon god peered over her shoulder, her stare still setting Claude on edge.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” Claude said quickly. “I’ll come back later.”

“You are not disturbing me at all.” The god rested her hand in her lap as the deer got to his feet. A silent conversation seemed to pass between them before the deer walked away. Much to Claude’s surprise, despite how wide the antlers were, the deer didn’t seem to have any problem navigating the thickly packed trees. Claude blinked and shook his head, for a moment the deer looked like it was see-through as he trotted into the undergrowth.

“Are you going hunting?”

“What?” Claude turned to look back at the dragon god in confusion.

She lifted a hand and slowly gestured to the bow on his back.

“Oh, no, not at all. I brought it for protection. From the uh dangers in the forest.”

The dragon god blinked slowly before nodded. “That is understandable. However there is nothing dangerous to you in this part of the forest, that is unless you have a bad fall. Some of the ground is uneven here.” 

“That’s good to know,” Claude replied politely.

“However once you travel farther off this path…” She lifted a finger and pointed. “There are beasts beyond there. Wild boars and bears. They do not fear humans so be cautious if you decide to tempt your fate.” She tilted her head slightly. “Or chose to tempt your fate.”

Claude felt a shiver go up his spine. “I don’t think I’ll be tempting fate much over the next year,” he said quickly.

A sound left her throat, partly musical in nature, part growl. It took Claude a couple of seconds to realize she was laughing. “Well that is the free will blessed to humans.” She got up, her movements too fluid and quick. “I will leave you to explore the area. From what I understand humans need to understand their territory.”

The slight smile with a small peek of fangs made Claude’s skin crawl as he forced himself to meet her smile with one of his own. “I have left you a meal on the altar, I hope it is to your taste.” He bowed low. He heard her walk around him, passing by so close he caught the scent of flowers and pine needles. By the time he looked up, she was gone.

His shoulders dropped, not realizing how tense he had been. Day two and he was already exhausted from interacting with the dragon god. “This is going to be a long year I guess,” he said with a sigh. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned to see the deer from before staring at him from the tree line.

Was the deer a servant of the dragon god? Crap, what if the deer was somehow able to report to her what he said? “I didn’t mean it like that!” he said to the deer. “It’s just a lot to take in and I’m just venting. Please don’t tell her I said these things. Or uh, put in a good word?” He paused realizing what he was doing. “Damn it, I’m begging to a deer.” Claude scratched the side of his head. “What in the world is my life coming to?”

The deer blinked slowly and continued to stare, either not impressed by Claude’s plea or agreeing to it. Claude hoped it was the second option. “Anyway, I want to explore the area a bit more so uh, good day to you?” He gave the deer a saluted before following the river downstream. According to the journal, a lot medicinal herbs grew along the river.

***

The offering tasted better than the previous day.

The dragon god slowly chewed on the stew, the tastes bursting through her mouth. Flavors and spices she did not know the name of, the vegetables and rabbit meat melting on her tongue. He had taken the time to make this for her. Despite the fear and uncertainty that radiated off him every time they met, he was taking this job seriously. That tickled a spot deep within her, a warm radiating from the food as she ate it.

Again with the sense of familiarity.

She looked up at the hole in the ceiling, at the clear sky overhead.

Ah, there was rain coming in the near future.


	3. Chapter 3

Claude was a little more than halfway down the mountain before he decided it was the perfect time to take a small break. Since this was going to be his first day meeting with the people, he had to make a good first impression right? And sweating up a storm and breathing heavily was probably not the way to do it. Not like he could help it though!

He pulled the collar of the robes away from his neck. He had to wear a special dragon god priest robe over his clothes. It was a ridiculous thing, made from dark gray fabric with pink accents, a gold shawl draped around the shoulders with tassels hanging off the ends and long flowing sleeves. Thankfully it only reached his ankles so he didn’t have to worry about it scraping against the ground but it was a level of ridiculous he wanted to have nothing to do with. It also trapped in heat way too well and a part of him was worried about making the trip down the mountain in the midst of summer. If he was already sweating in spring, how bad was summer going to be?

“Being a priest is way more work than I thought it would be.” And this was not counting the fact the dragon god was real. Ugh, he really hoped not many people showed up. He had to wake up extra early today to take care of the animals and he had to ignore tending the gardens because he was supposed to be at the bottom of the mountain ready to accept the offerings before noon.

He took a sip of water from his canteen and sprinkled a bit of water on the back of his neck and gobbled down one of the last few pieces of jerky he had brought with him to the mountain. He had saved some of the rabbit meat from yesterday to make more but they were still curing. Again he blessed his parents that despite being considered “nobles” they made sure Claude knew how to survive without people waiting on him hand and foot. Now if only they could have taught him how to converse with a divine being…

Despite it being two days, he was still struggling to grasp the fact the dragon god was real. Since it was a “blessing” day, he didn’t have to give her a meal offering. Instead her offerings would be whatever the people gave her. And even then it was more complicated than that, the journal going into details of what items should be given to the god and what he should keep for himself as the priest. He read the section a few times and came away from it that items that would be deemed useful Claude was supposed to keep for himself such as food and clothing while items like jewelry, handmade crafts would be given to the dragon god. Claude knew this was probably the only way he was going to be able to survive out here but it still felt wrong to be taking items that were supposed to go to the dragon god and keep it for himself. Although, perhaps the dragon god didn’t mind since there haven’t been any stories of a priest succumbing to the wrath of the god. Although, there were mentions of a couple priests dying by accident…

Claude shook his head, this line of thinking was not going to help him in any way. He could just ask the god politely if it was okay for him to keep a couple of things for himself.

He put the canteen away and got up and continued down the steps. As he neared the bottom he put on his best “saintly” face. And almost dropped it immediately as he looked at the crowd of people gathered here. Young and old, children clinging to parents, pregnant wives with husbands, old men and women. How were there this many people here!?

As he reached the bottom step, a hushed silence fell over the crowd and the amount of eyes on him made his skin crawl. He was used to being the center of attention, he was the son of a lord after all but the way these people looked at him was like he was something more. Like he was someone important, something to revere and look up to. Even in the meetings he sat in with his father, the silence and respect in the locals eyes was nothing compared to what he saw right now.

These were the true believers of the dragon god.

Claude took a deep breath and set his shoulders before spreading out his arms, the instructions from the journal ringing in his ears. “I will hear your prayers and your stories and bring it before the dragon’s god ears, I will take your offerings and lay it before them, the dragon god sees and hears all and I, as their priest, swear to tell them all of what is witnessed here. Now, line up so I may listen to each prayer in turn so I may relay the words to the god themself.”

It was startling how fast a line formed with barely any pushing or shoving or comments about who should go first.

The first to approach Claude was a man and a woman, worry dotting their brow. They clasped their hands together and bowed low. The man put a gentle arm around the woman. “We pray to the dragon god to bless us with a child.”

Claude dipped his head slightly. “The dragon god will hear your prayer.”

A smile broke across their faces along with hope. It tugged on Claude, surprised that with just a few words he could relieve their distress. The power of faith seemed to be stronger than he realized.

The woman reached into her satchel and took out a jar filled with jam. “I made this myself. I hope the dragon god enjoys it.” She held out the offering to Claude, her head bowed.

Claude took the jar with a small nod. “The dragon god accepts your offering.”

The couple walked away with a skip in their step. Claude set the jar on the ground behind him as he turned and faced the next person.

He could feel the sweat dripping down his back as he accepted offerings and listened to the prayers. The items behind him were starting to pile up, the offerings ranging from foods, to little trinkets and even one old woman gave a hand-knit blanket. The prayers themselves ranged from asking the dragon god to bless harvests and families to asking the god to smite an enemy or to bring back a forlorn lover. Claude had to admit to himself that he liked the people that handed him letters or notes with their prayers. His head was already swimming with the amount of prayers he was going to need to remember to relay to the god, and he knew he was going to forget some by the time the day was through. There was even families that brought young children, asking the dragon god to bless their child with good luck or fortune in the future. Claude found it silly to put his hand against the child’s forehead and stated that the dragon god will bless the child’s future. It wasn’t like he had any of the dragon god’s power in him. However, those families always left with happiness in their eyes and Claude knew he just had to accept it as part of the job.

Claude was putting down the latest offering, fried fish, when the next person walked up. “I would like to say a prayer to a friend of mine.”

He froze for a moment before turning around to face the voice. A familiar girl with pink haired tied in a ponytail looked back at him with a slight grin tugging the corner of her mouth. She was in nondescript clothing, boring colors that made her fit in with the others that have come to visit the dragon god, a far cry from the colorful array of colors and style she usually wore. He had to make an effort to clamp his mouth shut so her name wouldn’t fall from his lips.

One of the tenants of being a priest of the dragon god was the removal of earthly connections. Right now he was not Claude, son of Ayhan and Tiana, the future lord of the Leicester Kingdom with connections to the children of the many minor nobles in the domain. Instead he was just Claude, a devout priest to the dragon god, a god that was very much real.

“The dragon god will listen to any prayer, you wish to hear.” 

“Great.” Hilda pulled an envelope out of her bag and presented it to Claude with a bow. Knowing her as well as he did, he knew her bow would appear sincere to anyone looking but her slight grin and how exaggerated she was doing it made it clear she was making a mockery of what she had seen the other people do. Normally Claude would have found it funny and met her smile with one of his own but knowing that the dragon god was real and she could be watching everything right now, made him worried that the dragon god might smite Hilda for her behavior.

Claude took the envelope and turned around, pretending to put it in the pile but shoved it inside the sleeves of his robe to read later.

“I also have a second _offering_ for the dragon god.”

Claude wanted to hug her as Hilda held out Claude’s bow. A beautifully wooden carved recurve bow, Claude had gotten it as a present for his sixteenth birthday from his father with a comment of how a lord was only as good as his bow.

“The dragon god accepts your offering,” he said in the most monotone voice he could manage. Inwardly he wanted to jump around in glee. He carefully took the bow from Hilda, his fingers grasping the familiar grooves in the wood and set it on the pile behind him. Hilda gave him a small nod and a quick smile before walking away.

***

It was late afternoon by the time the last person said their blessing and left. Claude’s shoulders dropped and he collapsed to the ground, exhaustion rolling through him. Standing in one spot for hours while having to maintain his composure was way more torture than he thought it would be and he had a newfound respect for the priests of the dragon god before him. Especially the previous old man priest.

Also he was starving! Thankfully he had a few more strips of jerky on him, and he devoured them quickly and took a long sip of water. Yes, there was probably more delicious and sustainable things to eat in the pile of offerings but he could barely think straight right now to find it.

Speaking of offerings though….

He stared at the pile and then the long staircase to get back up the mountain. How in the world was he supposed to do this!? There was so much stuff, it would take him multiple trips to get all of it up there and he was already tired thinking of how exhausting it would be.

“How am I supposed to do it all by tonight!?” he asked the forest. The journal stated he was supposed to give the dragon god the offerings tonight but he wasn’t even sure if he could even get everything up the mountain before tomorrow.

A snap of a twig and Claude instinctively grabbed his bow and turned to the sound, his other hand going for an arrow from a quiver he didn’t have on his back. He relaxed slightly, only slightly, as he saw it was the deer from yesterday. The deer snorted and shook its head, the rack somehow not catching onto any of the tree branches above it.

“Uh, hello there,” Claude said cautiously, slowly putting down the bow.

The deer turned and took a few steps and then paused to look back at Claude. He snorted again and tapped a hoof on the ground.

“You want me to follow you or something?” Claude startled as the deer nodded before taking a few more steps and looking back at him. Claude got the instinct impression the deer was calling him an idiot with those brown eyes.

“Okay, okay I get it, I’m sorry I don’t speak deer,” he mumbled. He jumped as the deer turned and gave him the most deadpan look a deep could give. Which was saying much because he didn’t even know deer could look so deadpan in the first place!

Claude followed the deer as he walked a little away from the stairs leading up the mountain. He stopped in front of a section of the underbrush and looked back at Claude before walking into the forest. Again Claude was struck by how odd it was that even with the large rack of antlers, the deer did not get caught on any of tree branches.

He stepped into the brush, ducking under a low hanging brush and saw a gentle sloping dirt path leading up the mountain. A slow blink and he regarded the deer. “Are you kidding me? You’re telling me I could have just take this path instead of killing my legs and using all my energy trying to climb the stairs?”

The deer let out a huff and trotted over to a hand pushed wooden cart sitting on the side of the path.

“How convenient…” Why in the world wasn’t this written in the journal!? This was incredibly vital information. He could have saved himself so much stress and worry. “Would it be too much to ask if you could help me pack up the cart?”

A soft snort and the deer disappeared deeper in the forest.

“Okay, fine, I get it, I’ll do it myself,” he grumbled.

He grabbed ends of the cart and rolled it over to the collection of offerings and packed them into the cart. Realizing that he was now alone, he quickly removed the robes, sighing in relief as the gentle spring wind ruffled through his thin shirt. He was never going to take breathable clothes for granted after this, that was for sure. Once the cart was packed up, he grabbed the ends and after a deep breath to steal himself, he pulled on it.

It was heavy but manageable. “Man, I’m not going to get back to the cottage until late tonight aren’t I?” he said with a long sigh. Normally something like this wouldn’t be too much of an issue but he was already exhausted from having to stand today almost all day today and he ate the last of his jerky for a late meal. He was practically running on empty!

He slowly pulled the cart up the mountain path. Much to his surprise, the path was incredibly smooth, no rocks that the cart might catch on, no weeds or vegetation starting to claim the path again for the forest. The dirt seemed well packed to. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought it was a maintained road. That was impossible though, Claude knew he was the only one here. His thoughts flickered to the dragon god. Well, the only _human_ out here.

As he traveled along, night began to fall, the path becoming less clear before him. He stopped and dug around the cart, looking for a torch or anything to light the way forward. If he remembered correctly, didn’t one of the people give him one? Where was it though? Maybe he should have looked for it earlier. It was already getting pretty dark and he could barely see his hand in front of him.

The area brightened suddenly and he turned to see the deer from before, the antlers glowing. He rubbed his eyes. Yup, definitely glowing. A warm, bright glow that chased away all the nearby shadows, the path before suddenly visible again.

The deer stepped onto the path ahead of him and looked back at him and snorted.

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Claude picked up the cart and followed the deer up the mountain path. The night itself was starting to wake up, the crickets chirping loudly, the creatures of the night making their way through the underbrush.

The path led to the undergrowth behind the cottage, near the vegetable garden and Claude couldn’t help but look at the deer in disbelief. “Really? You couldn’t have informed me of this before? This could have save me so much time and energy!”

The deer huffed, the antlers slowly losing the glow.

“Do I need to bring the dragon god her offerings tonight?” Claude stared at the cart. He had just piled everything into the cart in a way to make it fit, not organized by the items he was going to keep and what to give to her.

A slight shake of the head and the deer pawed the ground in the direction of the cottage. Another short huff and it turned and headed back into the forest.

“I’ll take that as a no then…” That was good. His stomach was growling with hunger and all he wanted to do was eat. He was glad he planned ahead and made a big dinner last night so he could save some for today.

He pulled the cart closer to the entrance of the cottage and grabbed his bow along with a few of the smaller jars and bottles of jam and whatnot before he hurried inside and got a fire going to heat up dinner.

After his stomach was filled with delicious stew, and he took a shower to get rid of the sweat and grime, he settled on the chair in the living room to read the letter Hilda had given him. He recognized his father’s handwriting, the words written in code. One of the lesser used ones, much to Claude’s annoyance and it took him a lot longer than he would have liked to decipher it.

“I’ve had a long day Dad, couldn’t you go with something a little easier?” Claude let out a sigh as he worked his way through the code. The majority of it was about updates to the kingdom. How the crops were fairing, how the people were doing. The end section was a letter dedicated to him. It asked how he was fairing and how the hermit priesthood life was treating him. Apparently the noblewoman was quite happy about Claude taking over such a “lowly” position and how it would make him learn some humility. Hilda would also be making the trip up here once every two weeks and if he needed anything, to not hesitate to ask.

Claude put down the letter and sighed. He was so dang lucky to have a family so supportive of him. He wondered how they would react if he wrote that the dragon god was real but dismissed it. They would most likely think he was crazy. At least with this he now had a connection to the outside world.

He dropped the letter on the table and stood, the fatigue of the day settling on him. He usually liked to be awake for a few more hours but he could barely keep his eyes open at the moment. With a loud yawn, he headed for bed, knowing tomorrow was going to be another very, very busy day.


End file.
